Gift a light. Help a child study at night.

OCOL distribution at Bowenpally boys hostel

Submitted by ranga on Sun, 09/09/2012 - 22:02

Thrive Study Lights Brighten Lives of Underprivileged Hostel Boys !!! It all started with a visit to a government run Social Welfare Boys Hostel at Bowenpally, Hyderabad. Children studying from class III to Class VII are housed in this hostel. They go to a nearby govt school. We went to this hostel to distribute Thrive Solar Study lights, donated by a few close and kind hearted friends. Little did we know, that a small experience would leave such a huge impact on each one of us, as individuals, as human beings..!!

It was 3rd, Sep’12, Monday evening, a day when it was raining incessantly without giving a breather..!!. We were indeed quiet excited and ready with our first set of lights to be donated . While one of us was co-ordinating with the warden to get the list of children residing there and I was randomly talking to few children to get a feel of the life there. Few children were orphans, few were survived by either a father or a mother, or even a sibling and few had both the parents, but were struggling to meet their ends meet which compelled them to land up in the hostel.

We entered a room full of children, as chirpy as the birds in a garden.Their eyes sparkled at the sight of seeing all of us... perhaps expecting some goodies to enter the room. A few of them mixed up with us like we visited them every week, while a few of them were sitting in the distant corner, staring straight into our eyes.

We were there at a time when they were served the dinner. Got a peek into what they were served. Though the menu card says that on Moday Rice+Dal+vegetable+fruit+ curd to be served . But unfortunately these kids were not served fruit and curd. Unmindful of their rights, the kids prayed “Sahana Bhavatu….” In unison before eating their meal.

A small little child with tears rolling down his cheeks looked in pain. Upon asking why he was crying , he simply showed his sprained arm. With a lot of difficulty he managed to hold his plate which was served with rice and vegetable . Because of the pain he was unable to mix his food . His friend showing compassion mixed his food so that the injured child can satiate his hunger by using his other hand.

We spoke to them about the solar lights and the negative effects of kerosene lamps. The kids became ecstatic with joy when they came to know that each one of them will be given this wonderful Solar Study Light for their personal use. Some of them said, they will carry it to their villages where their sister or mother will need this light more than they do.

Though the hostel is clean and located off the main road, as none of them have mattresses, it was painful to see them spread their thin bed sheet to sleep on the cold floor. The room was invaded by hoards of mosquitoes and they have to battle them through the night.

Despite not having bare necessities even for a simple living, the kids still looked happy. It moved each one of us to witness those little ones, who deserved so much more in life, who are capable of being an engineer , a doctor or an entrepreneur. We had entered the place with the intention of removing the darkness from their lives and moving few steps forward thevision of ‘One Child One Light’ , instead we learned something much more valuable which would stay with us forever..!

Our heartfelt thanks go for the donors from different parts of the world for bringing joy to these little ones !!